Chapter III: Harvest
by ArkantosDT
Summary: The Masterchief arrives on the ship Chimera and is greeted by Captain Nicholas. After being given new toys and a new mission, the Chief meets and old friend and heads to the defeated planet Harvest the ground pounders way: feet first.


Chapter III:

As the Pelican came into land, it kicked up small mounds of sand and dust and creating mini whirling eddies that swept away from the landing gear and the bulk of its undercarriage. The surviving Marines from the encounter with the Scarab either limped or were carried on board as the Pelican swayed slightly, as weight was distributed unevenly inside. Sergeant Benson stood to one side of the Pelican's bay and encouraged the Marines on board faster with enticements of hot food, showers and a comfortable bed. Despite the obvious approval of this prospect being voiced by the Marines, there seemed to be no uplift in their spirits. As the last Marine was carried aboard on a stretcher, Benson looked out over the sand and wondered where it had all gone wrong. Heaving a heavy sigh, he hefted himself onto the loading gate at the rear and sat with his legs dangling over the edge.

As the Pelican started to rise, Benson gazed out onto the scorched desert plains and the giant, blackened craters left behind from the epic battle which they had only just escaped. They lay beneath the rising vehicle, the corpses of his Marines, of his brothers in arms, intermingled with the strewn, skeletal forms of destroyed vehicles. Sighing again, he swung his legs up from the edge and stood up, looking once more upon the battlefield, he typed the code into the wall of the Pelican and the rear compartment began to close.

Captain Nicholas, known as "Stryker," gazed out of the main view screen and watched as the approaching Pelican flew in from the planet below. From radio traffic, he guessed that not all had gone to plan. He had heard reports that a Scarab had "come from nowhere" and almost obliterated the entire area where _his_ Marines had been deployed. Turning to his left he followed the Pelican on its course along the under belly of the _Chimera_ and watched as it rose into the bay. He was anxious to find out what had happened, that was if there were any Marines for the Pelican to pick up.

"Atlas? When the Pelican is unloaded and the men are treated, send me Sergeant Benson. I want him to report as soon as possible."

"The message has already been sent"

Atlas was the onboard A.I for the ship _Chimera_ and appeared on the holo- panel next to the main controls. It took the appearance of the Greek titan, garbed in a white robe, minus the world on his shoulders. Atlas, was an experimental "breed" of A.I. He was known as a "smart" A.I as in apposition to "dumb" A.I's, they did not have a full external memory provided, instead, they learnt, like a human. This is the part that Captain Nicholas never liked. He had sent the Terminator movies when he was very small at a showing of classic films of the 20th century. Ever since, he believed that technology would rise against their creators. Years later he still believes it, despite constant reassurance.

"Thank you Atlas."

Captain Nicholas cursed to himself. He had just thanked an A.I. He had said thank you to a microchip and a projected light in the form of a human. Casting this thought from his mind, he gave orders to accelerate and to leave system. Once out of range, they entered Slipstream space. Turning fully around with his back to the view screen, Captain Nicholas walked over to his command chair and heaved a sigh of relief as the memory foam padding moulded to the shape of his body. A little bit of luxury never hurt anyone, he used to say.

Sergeant Benson got the incoming message to meet the captain on the bridge and double-timed it there. Passing crew members on his way, thinking that no matter how harsh battle could be, he would never trade it in for a desk job. The heat of battle flowed too strong in his veins. This lead to thoughts of his father, and how the Covenant had wiped out his entire unit. Benson was only seven when the Covenant finally reached Earth. He was on his way to school with his father, when Covenant Phantoms swarmed the air. Instantly, the Covenant began firing and the air became thick with smoke, dust and plasma fire. In the commotion he let go of his father's hand and lost him in the dust. Finding a refuge trolley, he hid. He waited for 3 hours until everything stopped. He went to find his father and, still to this day, could feel the emotion inside of him as he found his father's body, covered in a fine layer of dust, with a large hole in his chest. That was when he swore to get revenge. He finally had a purpose. And he was carrying it out. But today, he couldn't shake the feeling that he had failed his unit.

Benson reached the bridge and stood to attention behind the Captain's chair.

"Sergeant Benson, reporting as ordered sir." Barked Benson and snapped a crisp salute

"At ease Sergeant."

Swiveling 180 degrees in his chair, Captain Nicholas laid his eyes upon the young Sergeant and sighed.

"What's the damage soldier?"

"117 dead sir. 38 wounded and only 25 soldiers who are able to walk. To speak frankly sir, we got our asses handed to us."

"Give me the full debrief, and don't staunch on the details. I wanna know exactly what went on out there and how they got the drop on us."

Benson could tell that the Captain was as saddened and crestfallen as everyone else, and did not blame him. Captain Nicholas had an excellent rapport with many of the Marines onboard the Chimera and other vessels including the Pillar of Autumn and the Cradle. The Cradle was a giant platform designed for rebuilding and repair of ships. The Chimera had gotten into a lot of scraps and had a fair few visits. That was all gone now as the Cradle was used as a giant shield in the last giant battle with the Covenant.

"It all went according to plan, to begin with. Better actually. We went via hard-drop and usually we lose and at least one good soldier from overheating or mistaken topography, but every soldier landed intact. We were spread thinly across the ground, but we regrouped and headed towards a Covenant held Forerunner structure. Cus' we approached from above we were able to get a good look at their defences- pretty weak, if you ask me. They'd spread themselves too thinly for such a vast complex, so we posted twelve snipers in various positions, with instructions to target, fire and move position. We took most of them out and the rest ran for cover. Little did we know they had been hiding Wraiths in the complex. We took cover and ordered a satellite-guided orbital drop on them. Wiped out the entire lot in one barrage."

"So where did the Scarab come from? Something that big isn't hidden easily. You couldn't have missed it."

"We didn't. It wasn't based there. We waited an hour to make sure- no movement at all. So we moved in. As we moved along towards the structure, it... I don't know. It looked like... it... it fell outta the sky."

"Soldier, are you telling me that, not only have they got a walking tank with superior weaponary to ours, but it can fly? That the Covenant are so advanced, they've been able to defy gravity, in such a way that a 4000 tonne behemoth can appear weightless?"

"No Sir. When it hit the ground, it looked like it had been... I don't know, err... dropped or something, from one of their capital ships. But there weren't any in the area. The only other option is that it was dropped from a Covenant ship orbiting the planet, but it boggles the mind, Sir. It looked like it was made from materials that couldn't survive a drop through the atmosphere, especially at it's weight and size. Of course we learnt otherwise when we attacked it."

"Jesus Christ! The Covenant come up with something new everyday. Back on Earth, the Masterchief was able to take one out, in New Mombasa."

"Yeah, but he boarded it and shut it down from inside. It looks like they've improved the design since then, cus' the one that attacked us had a new turret which could rotate 360 degrees, and had side mounted plasma turrets. They tore us to shreds. We only just managed to disable one of its legs, but that was with constant barrage from chain gun fire. We had three Jackhammer launchers firing continuously and only one rocket hit, and that was a fluke. If we'd had MBT's then..."

"If you think I had access to tanks you think I wouldn't have given them to you? Even with such a small Covenant force, you never know what they're gonna do next. Alright son, you and your men take it easy, we're leaving this system. We've been told to head on Earth-bound vectors. Thought that place'd gone to hell in a hand basket. That's all Sergeant."

Captain Nicholas saluted Benson- which was returned by the Sergeant- and swung round to face the main view screen. Tapping at the controls in the arm rest of his chair, the figure of Atlas popped up.

"Atlas, give me a time window on the heading towards Earth."

"With distance from our current position, we can arrive there in a day at most. I can boost the power to the Shaw- Fujikawa engines by powering down weapon systems and the MAC gun and cut it down to 16 hours. We don't need them as there is no way to engage the Covenant in Slipstream Space, except with that incedent with Dr. Halsey."

"Fine, okay. Inform me when the Chief gets here, and then head to Earth. I'm gonna get a stiff drink."

The Masterchief clambered down from the driving seat of the Scorpion and watched as the Pelican began its descent, kicking up sand and fiercely blowing at nearby vegetation, threatening to uproot it. The Chief stepped back as the Pelican hovered above the MBT, activated the electromagnetic and the tank clung to the underbelly like a remora stuck to the underside of a shark. Once again the Pelican descended to allow the Masterchief to jump on and then kicked off again. The Chief looked out along the battlefield and as the Pelican rose ever higher into the air, more and more of it emerged from behind dunes and rocks.

Closing the hatch at the rear of the Pelican, the Masterchief edged towards the front, fighting the birds thrust with ease.

"What's the situation? Is that the last of 'em or is there a second round?"

"Nah Chief, that's the lot. Got new orders. Request for you to board the Chimera, Stryker wants to see you."

"Stryker? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with this alias."

"Sorry Chief, Captain Nicholas. He commands the Chimera. He's currently holding position above Reach. He'll be leaving system as soon as you arrive. It'll probably be to commend you on a job well done I suppose. Nice present from the Sergeant by the way."

"He always knew what I liked."

"Chief, new information intercepted from Covenant radio traffic. From what I picked up they seem to be calling in reinforcments from an unknown vector. Until they arrive the bulk of there command fleet, including their flagship, have pulled back and are waiting outside the kill zone. The orbital MAC guns outside Adrastos have been warned and are on standby, but are holding fire just in case it's a false alarm."

Cortana, a "smart" AI, had been the Chief's rock since his first meeting with her when he was also introduced to his MJOLNIR armour, both of which he never wanted to be without. With her abilities of intercepting Covenant radio traffic, maximising the outputs of the suit and ensuring that he is as efficient as possible, the Chief went from a great soldier to a brilliant soldier.

"I bet that that's what Captain Nicholas has in store for me. As long as I've got a weapon, full ammo and a target to fire at, I'm fine."

The nose of the Pelican rose noticeably as it began to climb through the clouds and towards the dark, cold grip of space. Passing through the mesosphere and thermosphere, the oxygen level lowered and the blank canvas of sky grew darker until the viewport was enshrouded by black. Pitching slowly to the "left" the Pelican began to turn until the Chimera emerged from the left. As they left the atmosphere, the bucking stopped as they passed into the vacuum and towards the ship. On the Chimera's underbelly, a hatch slid across which was large enough to launch three Longsword Intercpeters side by side. The Pelican decelerated and stopped, with help from forward and belly thrusters, it rose into the now gaping hole. As the hole closed up the area was pressurized and gravity was restored. The Pelican continued to rise until a docking platform came into view, onto which the pilot spun 180 degrees anti clockwise and settled down. The whineing of the engine ceased slowly as the engines spun down and the Chief stepped down from the lowering platform.

The Chief was greeted by a Sergeant who took him past row upon row of Warthogs. The launch bay was a mass of energy as vehicles moved, Marines shouted orders and Pelicans were lifted gracefully into allocated bays. Passing through a set of double blast doors, they stopped and the Sergeant tapped a control on the wall. The doors closed and instantly the elevator began to ascend rapidly. The entire time the Sergeant kept his back to the Chief, staring at the blast doors. The elevator slowed to a stop and, with a hiss, the doors slid apart. The Sergeant led the Masterchief past engineers and other skeleton crew of the Chimera until they reached the bridge.

Captain Nicholas stood with his back to the Chief and gazed at the main view screen which displayed seven Covenant vessels on the outer reaches of the planet Adrastos.

"Good to see you Chief. Boost the morale of the team I'd think. I've sent word around to every ship in this sector that you're still breathing. Okay Jones, take us out of this system on randomised vector. When we arrive head for home. Don't want any sneaky Covenant bastard following us."

"Yes, sir."

The soldier tapped controls at his station and the ship began to list to the right until the Covenant vessels were no longer visible. Acceleraing quickly they escaped the atmosphere of Adrastos and a ripple of light appeared at the prow of the Chimera. The ripple grew into a gaping hole and the front end seemed to dissolve into space.

"Pretty impressive thing you pulled off down there. If it wasn't for you then there would be a lot more obituaries to write. Johnson sends his thanks as well."

"Thank you, sir. I'd like to thank him for my "present," it really helped."

Captain Nicholas turned around to face the Chief and saluted with a grin on his face, obviously hearing of the Scorpion tank that had helped.

"Permission to speak, sir. But why are we leaving the system? If the Covenant are here then shouldn't we try to prevent another Reach?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. We're leaving system to get back-up of our own. But there's something else. You remember Harvest don't you?"

"Vaguely, sir. I never stepped foot onto the planet but I am familiar with its location."

"Well it seems that after glassing it, the Covenant have now struck up a new interest in it. We don't know for sure but our last recon past that area showed photos of them digging. Once again showing similarities to that of Reach. The UNSC Chiefs are extremely anxious as to their intentions and want to find out what they're up to."

"And that's why you want me?"

"Precisely. We need you to go down there and recon what they're up to and if possible, without attracting their attention. We have what you may require at our disposal so you choose what to take in, if anything at all. They have a very small Covenant force protecting the outer atmosphere, but once you hit the ground, there shouldn't be much in the way of resistance. We'vre rigged a Pelican and a Camohog for departure whenever is necessary."

"Camohog? I'm sorry, Sir, but I am not familiar with this technology."

"It's basically a normal 'Hog with the same light-bending properties as them bastard Elites have. Something useful we were able to nick off them. That also reminds me. You're to report to weapons tech lab. They've got something new for you. You should love it, call it another "present." "

"Yes, Sir."

The Chief snapped a crisp salute, about faced and walked out of the bridge. Stepping onto the elevator, he keyed the button for the weapons tech lab and wondered what it was. The elevator shot downwards, casting partial frames of light onto his visor as the elevator took him deeper into the ship. Feeling the elevator decelerate he collected his thoughts and stepped out as the doors slid apart. The scene before him was chaotic: tech chiefs ran around shouting orders and collecting papers as others were engaged in, often, heated arguements about soemthing that the Chief didn't understand about. The Masterchief strode amongst the chaos and towards where a parked Warthog had been positioned. As he passed he heard little comments like "Is that him!?" and "Jesus" intersperced by gasps of amazement and awe. Even after many times of encountering the same reception, the Chief had never gotten used to this.

"The Chief, I presume?"

A small scientist, relative to the Chiefs size anyway, stepped from behind the Warthog and approached the Masterchief.

"My name is Dr. Karagana. We have many new things to show you and such little time to present them. As you are more than likely familiar, the Engineers taken from the Covenant ship _Truth and Reconciliation_ have been put to good use. After capturing the corpse of a stealth Elite, it was able to repair the damage, inflicted by you, and show us how it was composed. Using the same technology we have been able to produce a form of transportation with the same attributes. Here we have a bog standard 4 wheel drive Warthog. fast, durable and extremely resiliant in a firefight. Now watch."

Dr. Karagana walked around to the Warthog's driving seat, got in, started the engine and pressed a series of buttons on the dashboard. After a period of a few seconds, the scientists legs became visible, then his torso and then the entire body was visible, floating freely in the air.

"As you can see, the entire Wathog has been fitted with a series of durable, light and strong cameras and transmitters. The cameras take in the visual information, in the same way as our eyes do and then they relay this information as a visual representation to the transmitter, hence the reason why I can be seen. The cameras on the inside of the Warthog take the information to the transmitter and relay it to you. Now of course this isn't very stealthy and the driver can still be seen, but when driven by Marines it allows them to affectively hide vehicles in strategic positions. You on the other hand, well... come with me."

Dr. Karagana hopped out of the "air," leaned into the 'Hog and turned the engine off. Gradually the Warthog became visible again. The Chief and the doctor walked over to a large table decked out in pieces of armour.

"Using the exact same technology, we have been successful in producing the equivilent for your MJOLNIR armour. Now unlike the Warthog, it has a considerably shorter affective time period because the one on the Warthog works off the battery. Yours will work off your power supply which is already powering your armours shield. That we have also improved and will take less damage from energy shots."

The Masterchief gazed longly at the new pieces of armour, especially the helmet which was much smoother and less geometric.

After an hour of removing sections of old armour and replacing it with the new, the Chief looked pretty much the same: the armour weighed the same, had the same Marine green colours to it and he felt the same. After powering up the armour, his movements became fluid again as his brain took over a percentage of body movement.

"In the wrist is a series of dials which correspond to the active camouflage. The time period can be changed though this will affect your shield system so I wouldn't become too reliant on it. You can also allocate certain sections of the armour to become camouflaged. As of now the system is set as default to your entire armour is selected for camouflaging and the time period is approximately five minutes. There are a few things to remember. First, be conservative. Use the camouflage only when it is needed, not willy nilly."

"That won't be hard to adjust to, I've spent years in this armour without camouflage."

"Yes, but having said that, you've never wanted it because it was never available. You may think nothing will change, but now that it is there, it may be too tempting to resist. Anyway, secondly, when you lose your shields entirely you'll become visible, and this also applies for being hit with any form of projectile or firing a projectile. You hand-to-hand skills will come in handy when up close and personal, so no fire arms whilst it's active. Thirdly, when in the modded Warthog you can connect to the main battery to also become invisible. The only thing you'll have to worry about is the sound of the engine. If you have an AI in your suit then they have the ability to active or deactive the camouflage, so you don't have to. And finally, don't break it! Many years of hard graft have gone into its development."

"I'll do what I can but I'm not making any promises. The Covenant aren't very predictable."

"The Chief lifted the Assault rifle off the table and was about to sling it over his shoulder when Dr. Karagana stoppped him.

"You don't need that old thing anymore. We've developed a new rifle for UNSC use. It fires a burst of three 11.5mm anti-armour rounds at well over 2100 kilometres an hour. It sports a 2x scope which can be used to take out medium range targets with perfect accuracy and a 5 percent decrease for every 15 metres. It has a 36 round clip so if you do your math then that's..."

"12 bursts off a single clip. Nice. Effectively 12 kills."

"Actually possibly more. Unarmoured targets may allow the rounds to penetrate through and through and hit targets behind like that of your S2 AM Sniper's rifle. Strafing the gun across a line of targets is also quite effective but not advised."

"Masterchief, report to the ODST drop pods in 10 minutes. Change of plan. We're leaving Slipspace in 5. Gear up, lock down and get ready."

The intercom snapped off and Dr. Karagana looked at the Chief.

"Good look son, we're all couting on you."

"Thank you."

The Masterchief collected the new Rifle, slung it over his shoulder, pocketed a few clips and headed towards the elevator. As the Chief stepped onto the elevator plate, he saw the Camohog descending with him until it disappeared from view.

When the elevator settled and the doors hissed apart, only a Marine was on deck. As the Chief's heavy boots clanged against the metal floor, the Marine threw away the cigarette he'd been nursing and snapped to attention.

"Masterchief, sir."

"At ease. What's the new plan then?"

"The Pelicans are being kept for emergencies, so you're going the way all ODST's go: feet first through hell. The Warthog will be following you down so when you land, pick up the trace from its tracker."

"How? I have no AI."

"With her."

The Marine produced a small data cube from his pocket and handed it to the Chief.

"A little something Dr. Halsey didn't tell you. Cortana wasn't one of a kind. This is Deja. I think you two already know each other."

Deja had been the AI who had taught the masterchief and his Spartans when Reach was still under UNSC control. She had taught him every form of combat and how superior armies had lost to inferior numbers because of hard training. The Chief inserted the chip into the data port at the back of the helm and the familiar feeling like someone pouring ice cold water into his mind filled him again.

"Good to see you again John. Grown up quite a lot since our last meeting."

The Chief didn't know how to respond. He had assumed that when Reach had fallen, Deja had gone too.

"See you haven't changed much either. It'll be good working together. If you are the same as Cortana, then you two may not be the only ones that Dr. Halsey created?"

"As I am aware, the only other successful and efficient AI created by Dr. Halsey was Cortana, although not having access to any data on her or her achievements since my creation I cannot say for certain that this is accurate."

"Nope, haven't changed a bit."

The Masterchief climbed into the drop pod and sealed the door with a loud clunk. Up front on the inside of the door, a screen flickered into life and the Captain's face popped up.

"I just wanted to say good luck Chief. Whatever the Covenant are doing down there, I'm sure that you'll find out."

The screen went black and then a whole list of maps and 3D topographical data crossed the screen in a complex structure to form a 3D view of the landing site. The Covenant patrolling the planet had many blind spots, but only one that the Chief could take advantage over, and that was his drop point.

"Blowing the pins in five, Chief."

The Chief banged on the inner of the door to signal his approval and braced himself for one of the roughest rides a soldier, even of his callibre, could ever imagine. A long shrill alarm sounded and then the Chiefs heart was in his mouth as the drop pod shot to the planets surface below. The ride through space was extremely rapid and smooth, but as soon as he hit the atmosphere it gave the feeling of landing as gravity took hold and tore at the hull of the drop pod. The temperature ose quickly until the chief noticed his shield moniter flickering. At 200 feet a second the drop pod reached maximum acceleration and maximum temperature. As the last of his shiled ebbed away, the shrill alarm of his internal biomoniters sounded.

"It's gonna get a little bumpy from here on in."


End file.
